China's Lunar Calendar 2013 09-16

Click here for the introduction to the Round and Square series "Calendars and Almanacs"  

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦

LEFT September 17........................................................................................September 9 RIGHT

This is one in a never-ending series—following the movements of the calendar—in Round and Square perpetuity. It is today's date in the Chinese lunar calendar, along with basic translation and minimal interpretation. Unless you have been studying lunar calendars (and Chinese culture) for many years, you will likely find yourself asking "what does that mean?" I would caution that "it" doesn't "mean" any one thing. There are clusters of meaning, and they require patience, reflection, careful reading, and, well, a little bit of ethnographic fieldwork. The best place to start is the introduction to "Calendars and Almanacs" on this blog. I teach a semester-long course on this topic and, trust me, it takes a little bit of time to get used to the lunar calendar. Some of the material is readily accessible; some of it is impenetrable, even after many years. 

As time goes on, I will link all of the sections to lengthy background essays. This will take a while. In the meantime, take a look, read the introduction, and think about all of the questions that emerge from even a quick look at the calendar.

Section One
Solar Calendar Date
(top to bottom; right to left) 
十
六
一期星

  Ninth Month, Sixteenth Day

Astral Period One
Monday, September 16

———————————————— 
Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

合月
日德

Lunar Virtue
Linked Days

—————————————————

Section Three
Auspicious Hours
(top to bottom, right to left) 
申辰子

吉吉吉

酉己丑

吉凶吉

戌午寅

中中吉

亥未卯

凶中凶

23:00-01:00 Auspicious
01:00-03:00 Auspicious
03:00-05:00 Auspicious
05:00-07:00 Inauspicious

07:00-09:00 Auspicious
09:00-11:00 Inauspicious
11:00-13:00 In-Between
13:00-15:00 In-Between

15:00-17:00 Auspicious
17:00-19:00 Auspicious
19:00-21:00 In-Between
21:00-23:00 Inauspicious

The hours above are for Hong Kong. It is up to you if you want to recalibrate or to assume that the cyclicality of the calendar "covers" the rest of the world. This is a greater interpretive challenge than you might think.

————————————————— 

Section Four 
Activities to Avoid  
(top-to-bottom; right to left) 

忌

動栽
土種

Planting and Cultivating
Moving Soil

————————————————— 

 Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

十
二
乙
酉
水
危
建

Twelfth Day (Eighth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: yiyou (22/60)

Phase (element): Water

Constellation: Danger (12/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Establish (1/12)

————————————————— 

Section Six
Appropriate Activities
(and Miscellaneous Information
(top-to-bottom; right to left)

宜

出
行
掃
舍
修
置
產
室
上土
兀府
復月
喪刑

Appropriate Activities  

Going Out (and about)
Sweeping Rooms
Repairing and Setting-up Property and Quarters

Miscellaneous Information

Soil Palace
Lunar Punishment
Upper Amputee
Repeat Mourning

————  

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars 
(right to left)

白 州
White, Landmass

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Information

(Top to bottom; right to left)
門
磨 碓

Gate
Mortar, Pestle